Decision cancels a public hearing in the complaint brought by the South Asian vice-principal, who alleged discrimination kept her from being promoted.

Ranjit Khatkur, pictured in February 2011, has reached a settlement with the Peel public school board over her discrimination complaint.

By:San GrewalUrban Affairs Reporter, Published on Mon Nov 19 2012

The Peel District School Board has settled a human rights case with a vice-principal who alleged that systemic discrimination prevented her from being promoted.

An Ontario Human Rights Tribunal hearing for vice-principal Ranjit Khatkur had been scheduled for Dec. 5 to 7, but the settlement means there will not be a public hearing.

Khatkur alleged that direct discrimination against her and systemic discrimination in general within the board had prevented her from being promoted to principal.

In a statement released Monday by the board, Director of Education Tony Pontes said, “The board remains fully committed to equity and social justice in all its dealings with staff, students and members of the community.”

The case attracted strong interest in Peel, where about 60 per cent of residents are visible minorities.

Responding to the Star’s request for details on the settlement, the board said Pontes’ one sentence response was all that could be shared.

The settlement is the eighth by the Peel board in the past decade dealing with race-based complaints by students or staff, according to the board.

Khatkur stated: “I am encouraged with the direction the board is taking in relation to equity and inclusive education issues.” She said that, according to the terms of the settlement, she could not make any further comment.

In her application to the tribunal, Khatkur, a vice principal since 1998, sought several remedies to address alleged systemic discrimination within the board. They included:

• Collect board statistics based on race.

• Develop equity policies inclusive of marginalized groups.

• Review the hiring, promotion and retention process, and include a monitoring committee with representation from visible minority groups.

• Mandatory training of senior staff, including principals and vice-principals, in the area of equity inclusion and challenges facing visible minorities.

Barbara Hall, the chief commissioner of the Ontario Human Rights Commission, told the Star it’s perfectly within the rights of parties who settle at the Tribunal to include confidentiality requirements.

But when the commission handled such cases, she said, “We never agreed to confidentiality in our piece, because we were there for the public interest. For reasons of transparency, public accountability is very important.”

Lawyers for Khatkur successfully argued during preliminary hearings that the systemic allegation should be included in the case and stated that her race and cultural background played a role in the board’s decision to overlook her for promotion to principal on several occasions.

It was noted that in 2007-08, only five of 235 principals — 2 per cent — in the board were of South Asian background, while close to 30 per cent of Peel Region residents were South Asian.

“We are certainly aware of some of the complaints against the board,” Hall said. “We monitor what goes on at the Tribunal. I think the fact (the board) stated their ongoing commitment (shows) they must know that people are going to hold them to that in terms of both their future actions and statements.”